Stephen Leicht Rebounds to Finish 18th at Lowe's Motor Speedway Driver's Choice Press Release
CONCORD, N.C. (October 12, 2007) – Stephen Leicht and the CitiFinancial Team returned to Lowe’s Motor Speedway Friday night for the running of the Dollar General 300 posting an 18th-place finish. Leicht was strong in the early stages of the race but trouble on pit road and a late-race incident would hinder a top-10 finish for Leicht.
“We had an awesome car tonight,” said Leicht. “We had a great qualifying effort and we were able to run up front with the leaders. Unfortunately, we had some trouble in the pits that put us in the back early on. We fought back from that and got back up to 10th when we were involved in one of the wrecks at the end. It’s too bad because I really felt like I had a car that could’ve contended for a top-five finish.”
Leicht started the 200-lap event in ninth and held his position until the first caution flag came on lap 26. Leicht radioed to the crew that “the car is a little free on entry, but pretty good overall,” before he traveled down pit road for his first pit stop. Four tires, fuel and an air pressure and chassis adjustment were performed to help correct the slight handling condition. Trouble on the pit stop dropped Leicht back to 17th for the lap 30 restart.
Problems continued for Leicht as he felt a vibration and returned to pit road on lap 34 for four fresh tires. He would rejoin the field in 32nd. A long green-flag run would allow Leicht to begin picking off several positions. By lap 130 he was back in the top 10 and running consistent lap times with the leader. A multi-car wreck on lap 139 forced the entire field to check up. As Leicht was slowing for the caution flag he was hit from behind and sent spinning across the infield grass.
Crew chief Bruce Cook brought Leicht down pit road to repair the slight rear damage. He rejoined the field in 18th. Over the next 50 laps, Leicht would evade two more caution flags to bring home an 18th-place finish.
Jeff Burton came from the back of the field Friday night to win the crash-filled Busch Series race at LMS. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin followed to complete the top-five running order.
Leicht moved into the eighth position in the NASCAR Busch Series driver point standings. With four races remaining in the 2007 season, he sits 253 markers behind fifth position.
The CitiFinancial Team will enjoy next weekend off before they take to the track at Memphis Motorsports Park for the Sam’s Town 250. Coverage begins October 27 at 3:00 PM EST live on ESPN2 and MRN.
Dollar General 300 Unofficial Top-10 Results 1. Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevy
2. Kyle Busch Lowe’s/Sta-Green Winterizer Chevy
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Super Clean/Menards Chevy
4. Aric Almirola Slim Jim Monster/Act II
5. Denny Hamlin Rockwell Automation Chevy
6. David Ragan Discount Tire Chevy
7. Robby Gordon Verizon Wireless Ford
8. Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevy
9. Kelly Bires Armor All/AutoZone Ford
10. Kevin Harvick Dollar General Chevy
18. Stephen Leicht CitiFinancial Ford
Unofficial Driver Standings 1. Carl Edwards 4276
2. David Reutimann 3638
3. Kevin Harvick 3523
4. Jason Leffler 3451
5. David Ragan 3299
6. Bobby Hamilton Jr. 3264
7. Greg Biffle 3136
8. Stephen Leicht 3046
9. Marcos Ambrose 2987
10. Matt Kenseth 2981
Next Race: Sam’s Town 250
Memphis Motorsports Park
Saturday, October 27
Television: ESPN2 (3 p.m. ET) Radio: MRN
ABOUT CITIFINANCIAL- Citigroup (NYSE: C), the leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at
www.citigroup.com or by calling 1-877-561-7283.
